Emar
Emar (modern-day Meskene) is located on the western bank of the Euphrates River in Syria on a rocky plateau overlooking the southern plain that served as an important crossroads for commercial trade, relations, and travel between ancient Near Eastern cities and empires.
Excavations were carried out from 1972-1978 prior to the construction of the Tabqa dam that now partially covers the site by Jean-Claude Margueron under the auspices of the French Commission of Excavations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Hundreds of texts were recovered from a priest’s library that cover the last 130 years of the city’s economic, legal, and judicial life as the capital of a province of the kingdom of Carchemish under the Hittite Empire. The documents also constitute one of the most important finds at Emar because they link divination practices that migrated from Mesopotamia to Anatolia and Greece. The city was destroyed in 1187 BCE.
About 800 cuneiform texts and fragments were found, mostly written in Akkadian and Sumerian, but also Hittite and Hurrian. The texts include about 150 economic documents, 200 contracts, and 20 non-royal letters. Many Mesopotamian texts were also discovered, including more than 60 lexical texts, and over 100 omen texts, incantations and rituals. A few literary and wisdom texts were also found, including fragments of the Gilgamesh epic. About 200 tablets and fragments record local festivals and rituals, while others document prayers, offerings, and rituals for regional deities.
Texts have been published by Arnaud (1985-1987), as well as hundreds of mainly economic and legal tablets from the area of Emar, e.g. Arnaud, 1987, 1991; Beckman, 1996; Westenholz, 2000; Dalley and Teissier, 1992; Huehnergard, 1983; and Tsukimoto, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992. The nearby archives from Ekalte/Tell Munbaqa (nearly 100 texts, Mayer 2001) and Azu/Tell Hadidi (15 tablets, not published yet) supplement the information coming from Emar.
Emar Research
2007 Belmonte - GNs Emar.pdfToponyms from Emar (Juan A. Belmonte)
Belmonte, J.A. 2007. Die Orts- und Gewässernamen der Texte aus Emar (nach RGTC 12.2). Einleitung: Die Texte aus Maskana.
Uploaded with kind permission by Juan Antonio Belmonte (Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha).
Cuneiform Texts from Emar
Gs Kutcher 6 (= LN 104)
A land-grant document from the days of Li'mi-sharra, king of the so-called 'First Dynasty'.
First published by M. Sigrist (1993), 'Seven Emar Tablets' in A.F. Rainey, ed., Raphael Kutscher Memorial Volume, Tel Aviv, 195-184.
Latest edition by Cohen & Viano (2016).
Photos courtesy of Laura Johnson-Kelly.
Obverse
Reverse
Detail (lines 1-6)
Seal of Ninurta (E1a, Beyer 2001)
Iraq 54 1
Adoption contract, Syro-Hittite type.
Published by S. Dalley & B. Teissier (1992), 'Tablets from the Vicinity of Emar and Elsewhere', Iraq 54, 83-111.
Photos courtesy of Stephanie Dalley.
Obverse
Reverse (detail of seal impressions)
Seal impressions A and B
Seal impression C
Seal impression D
Iraq 54 2
Inheritance text, Syrian type.
Published by S. Dalley & B. Teissier (1992), 'Tablets from the Vicinity of Emar and Elsewhere', Iraq 54, 83-111.
Photos courtesy of Stephanie Dalley.
Obverse
Reverse
Seal impression A (rolled twice on obverse)
Seal impression B
Iraq 54 3
Record of barley payment/loan.
Published by S. Dalley & B. Teissier (1992), 'Tablets from the Vicinity of Emar and Elsewhere', Iraq 54, 83-111.
Photos courtesy of Stephanie Dalley.
Obverse
Reverse
Iraq 54 4
Real estate sale from the days of Elli, king of the so-called 'Second Dynasty', Syrian type.
Published by S. Dalley & B. Teissier (1992), 'Tablets from the Vicinity of Emar and Elsewhere', Iraq 54, 83-111.
Photos courtesy of Stephanie Dalley.
Obverse
Seal impression A (Seal of Ninurta)
Seal impression B
Iraq 54 5
Sale of a female slave from the days of Elli, king of the so-called 'Second Dynasty', Syrian type.
Published by S. Dalley & B. Teissier (1992), 'Tablets from the Vicinity of Emar and Elsewhere', Iraq 54, 83-111.
Photos courtesy of Stephanie Dalley.
Obverse
Seal impression: Dynastic seal E2a (Beyer 2001)
Iraq 54 6
Inheritance text, Syrian type.
Published by S. Dalley & B. Teissier (1992), 'Tablets from the Vicinity of Emar and Elsewhere', Iraq 54, 83-111.
Photos courtesy of Stephanie Dalley.
Obverse
Seal impression (upper edge)
Seal impression (lower edge)
Iraq 54 10
Record concerning three workers.
Published by S. Dalley & B. Teissier (1992), 'Tablets from the Vicinity of Emar and Elsewhere', Iraq 54, 83-111.
Photos courtesy of Stephanie Dalley.
Seal impression on reverse
KASKAL 16 1
Sale of a plot of land from the days of the 'First Dynasty'. Syrian style. Private collection. The fragment joins to Emar 152.
Published by J.G. Dercksen (2019), 'New Fragments and Joins to Published Emar Tablets', KASKAL 16, 27-52.
Photos courtesy of Jan Gerrit Dercksen.
Composite photo of Emar 152 + KASKAL 16 1 (D. Beyer & J.G. Dercksen).
Obverse
Right edge
Seal impression on left edge
Lower edge
KASKAL 16 2
Fragment from Middle Babylonian Ura 10. Private collection. The fragment joins to Emar 553 H.
Published by J.G. Dercksen (2019), 'New Fragments and Joins to Published Emar Tablets', KASKAL 16, 27-52.
Photos courtesy of Jan Gerrit Dercksen.
KASKAL 16 2
Right edge
KASKAL 16 3
Fragment of zukru ritual. Syro-Hittite style. Private collection.
Published by J.G. Dercksen (2019), 'New Fragments and Joins to Published Emar Tablets', KASKAL 16, 27-52.
Photos courtesy of Jan Gerrit Dercksen.
KASKAL 16 3
KASKAL 16 4
Fragment of kissu rituals. Private collection.
Published by J.G. Dercksen (2019), 'New Fragments and Joins to Published Emar Tablets', KASKAL 16, 27-52.
Photos courtesy of Jan Gerrit Dercksen.
Obverse
Lower edge
Reverse
Textile imprint on lower left edge
Text of Unknown Provenance
Emar Syro-Hittite style deed. Location unknown.
Never published.
